Salvia, basil, and blue daisies

April 9, 2010 epicureasian

With the seedlings doing well in their covered flat, I decided to try out MiracleGro’s Seedling Starter soil and bust out the basil seeds. With summer only 6 weeks away, I thought it would be only a matter of time before we started craving the awesome fresh flavors of an herb garden. Half packets of Stokes Seeds Red Rubin and Thai Basil went into a cheap plastic tray (recycled from food takeout), along with some Ferris & Morse catmint seeds purchased at Home Depot. It didn’t take long for me to notice the seeds swell up in the tray. Because the tray isn’t self-watering like the Burpee’s kit, I will be misting it daily

Two out of the 6 red salvia cuttings took root, which I promptly transferred to a 4 inch pot with starting soil. Two failed completely (perhaps because they were cut from hardwood), while the other 2 showed no rooting. The latter I also put into a starter/garden soil mix and placed under the grow light. From Walton’s Gardens yesterday I took home a Hot Lips Salvia and proceeded to take 4 cuttings, which also went under the grow light.

Finally, from Home Depot, I brought home a rosemary in a quart pot, along with the blue daisy I’ve been craving for all week, Felicia Cape Town Blue. I’m thinking of putting it in a planter along with some dianthus and a Picasso lily bulb that I have left over.

Ye Olde Garden

Seedlings and flower beds installed

April 4, 2010 epicureasian

I mentioned last week that the dianthus seedlings were the first to germinate. However, what I noticed the next day were the impatiens starting to burst out of their casings. I found many of the tray cells occupied by flecks of white. So I’m happy to note that it took about 4-5 days to finally see some activity from them.

Saturday morning, the rest of the dianthus had begun to bloom, 2 carmine reds and 1 picoteed (Telstar) violet. I was also pleased to discover that at least one of the lily bulbs (Red Alert?) I had planted had burst through the soil. The Snowdrift Astilbe seems to like its new home because its leaves have begun to color in and unfurl. With the warm (70 degrees) temperatures we’ve had all week, it seems that nature has switched to full throttle. Even the crape myrtles have begun to leaf out. Of course, with the onset of heat, that means the violas begin to wilt.

Our landlord brought over 10 bags of soil amendment and 10 bags of black mulch on Saturday afternoon. We then proceeded over to Strong’s Nursery and acquired the fixtures in our front flower beds. The finally tally? Three Emerald Snow lorapetalums, 2 Firehouse Nandinas, 1 Moon Bay Nandina, 2 Encore Azaleas Autumn Embers, 1 Autumn Twist, 1 Autumn Monarch, and 3 Hakonechloa macras Aureola (or Japanese Forest Grass All Gold). The Hakonechloas were a surprise discovery…we managed to snag the last 3 at the nursery. Along with these shrubs, we installed the Astilbe Fanals and Amerika and the 2 Hosta Minutemen (which I had potted earlier in the week).

On Sunday, we ventured north to look at some new nurseries. Lewisville had one off 35N but it was closed for Easter Sunday. So we ventured west into Flower Mound, but discovered that Huggins Nursery had recently come under new management and found a very sparse selection of plants. I got a sniff of the scented geraniums, saw some salvias, and finally went home with 2 Foxtail ferns (the first I’ve seen for the season). We then journeyed back south, hit another Lowes and Home Depot before trekking over to Christina’s in North Dallas. I’m never disappointed with this nursery…they had a vast selection of plants on sale, and I ended up bringing home an 18 count flat of Coleus Wizard mix. Pictures soon!